Method and apparatus for beveling felt



March 30 1926.

AVMLBLE COPY l 1,578,653 H- GALLAGHER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR B'EVELING FELT Filed Jan. B, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS March 30 1926. 1,578,653 A. H. GALLAGHER METHOD AND4 APPARATUS FOR BEVELING FELT Filed Jan. 5, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet-2 5f/ATTORNEYS March 30,1926.V I 1,578,653

A. H. GALLAGHER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BEVELING FELT Filed Jan. s, 1924 s sheds-sheet s 7 Z3 ff u 1.5 I. 3111 i Z/ I ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

'UNITED STATES 1,578,653 PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED HUGH GALLAGHER, F CIEIICAGrO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOIL TO .TANNERS PROD- UCTS COMPANY, O1? CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

METHOD AND APPARATUS Fort BEVELING FELT.

Application led January 3, 1924i.' Serial Nb. 684,152'.

To aZZ'wz-om #may concern:

" siding at Chicago, in the county vof Cook,

State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Apparatus for Beveling Felt; and I do hereby declare the following to be a ful'l, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the method and apparatus byjwhich a felted same.

This invention lrelates to an improved method and apparatus for beveling felt and is particularly advantageous f oruse in beveling ,pads made ofcattle hair or other `'similar material so that the pads may be used as a unit in a chair seat or for the pur poses of upholstery in other kinds of furniture or in automobiles, etc.

-It will be understood that upholstered furniture is ordinarily constructed by stuff ing or padding the various parts with some loose material such as animal hair or various vegetable fibres. In such construction, the stuffing material is shipped and handled in. bulk and is placed in position by the workman. Obviously, such a method is wasteful .both of material and time, and to obviate these diiliculties there has been devised an improved pad for use in chair seats, cushlons, etc., as set forth in my application for 'U. S. Letters. Patent, Serial No.491,421, this pearance.

I have found that such pads may be best manufactured by mixing and felting the material in suitable machines,l the finished felt being turned out in layers in which. the hairs and bristles are loosely held --t0gether- A suitable blank having been cut, it'becomes necessary to perform the beveli-ng operation and for -this purpose I havef devised the4 method and apparatus later to be described.

By reason of" the condition of the loosely felted mass, itis impossible to use ordinary cutting devlces without tearing the material apart, or at least distorting it so thatjthe beveled pad is useless for'the purpose for which it is intended. The problem lies in providing some means by which the bevel may be cut at acute angles of varying degrecs, while at4 the same time producing clean edges along the line of cutting. Ordi# nary shearing cut-ters or rotary knivesare not alone satisfactory for the purpose for the reasons stated and the'object of the present invention isvto provide an improved mass may be rapidly and easily given a bevel, while preventing distortion -of the main mass of felt and at the same time producing a sharp clean edge.

In order to make clear the details of the,

invention, the accompanying drawings will be referred to. In these drawings, which form a art of the disclosure, there is shown a machme by which the method may be practiced. Of the several figures, Fig. 1 shows a. vertical cross-sectional view of the device taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, with certain of the parts shown in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a view of the machine in front elevation. Fig. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of a detail of the machine and Fig. 5 is ay viewin perspective showing a finished beveled pad.-

AReferring now to the drawings, the apparatus (is shown to consist primarily of two units, of which one comprises a motor, a

cutter driven by the motor and a throat block so disposed as to give the cutter a porting arm cooperating with the first arm Y and permitting vertical adjustment so that the cutting-mechanism may be suitably posif tioned to cut pads of 'varying thicknesses.

The-'beveling apparatus as al whole will` be mounted on any convenient support such as is shown 'in thedrawingsyto -conslst of-upright legs 1, on which are mounted suitable cross-bars or frame' members 2"and 3. Disposed onthese cross-bars isa shelf 4, which provides 'a-sup'port' for thep'adwhich is to,

be cut. The shelfflfas shown in Fig. 1 has an edge' which projects slightly'beyond` the face of the uprightsl. This shelf 4 will be made of anypdesired constructicn but is prefwhich is suitably secured to the frame.

cutting action. These guidesvmay be rigidly secured in place or may be provided with adjustable mountings so that they may be raised or loweredlto take care of pads of different thicknesses. It will be noted that `the guide 9 projects to a greater height than1 the guide 8, this being necessary since the guide 9 supports the uncut pad, While the edge after beveling Will lie against the inner face of the guide 8.

As shown in Fig. l, theicutting mechanism is supported von an upright member (1)0, n

the outer face of the member 10, there is dis- 'posed a face plate 11, secured in position by means of one or more bolts 12. Near its lower end, the plate `11 has a projecting lug 13, through which passes an adjusting screw 14, provided With/ a lock nutV 15. On the outer face of the plate 11, is adjustably mounted a supporting member 16, this member ,having a longitudinal .slot 17 formed therethrough. A bolt 18 secured in the face. plate 11 passes through this slot and is provided with amilled nut 19, so that the supporting member 16 may be held in vvarious positions of adjustment. relative tothe plate 11. At its lower end,y the member 16 termi-- nates in an offset lug 20, against which bears the end of the adjusting screw 14. Y

At its upper end, the supporting member 16 terminates in an arcuate or quadrant arm formed with a longitudinallyv extending slot 22. A bracket 23, which terminates in an arcuate portion'corresponding to the arc of the member 21, lies on the inner face of the quadrant and is provided with a bolt 24, which projects through the slot 22. .On the end of the bolt is mounted a milled nut 25,

so that the bracket ,23 may be adjusted in various positions in the quadrant.

The bracket 23 'supports the cuttlng unit 'and this consists'of a small motor 26, the

shaft 27 of Which runs in a suitable bearing 28 in the bracket. Directly mounted on the outer end of the shaft by any suitable means. is a cutting disc 29. This disc is of the usual construction and has a peripheral bevel on its upper surface so as to form a cutting edge.

JOn the inner face of the arcuate portion of the bracket 23 and lying substantially in the plane of the cutting disc, is a `throat, member 30, shown in; perspectivein Fig. 4. This throat member is formed with a 1ongitudinal ridge and has a channel 32 pass'- `ing through it beneath the ridge. One porbracket and at such a point, that the slot Willv lie in the plane of the cutting member. The relative positions are such that the knife edge travels 1n the slot and the throat mcmber thereby gives to the knife a shearing effeet. The motor is preferably mounted-on bracket 23 in such a Way that it is capable of slight adjustment so that the position of the knife may be varied relative to the throat member to compensate for Wear.

It will be seenl that by the construction justdescribed,the rotary cutting knife and the throat member are capable of angular adjustment asa unit on the arcuate support for the bracket. Thethroat block is also made of such dimensions that its outer face adjacent thev slot in which the knife edge travels, will lie approximately at the center of angular adjustment of the cutting unit. Such an arrangement insures that Whatever the angle at which the felt is to be cut, Vthe throatblock yWill always lie with its face against the edge of the felt where the culting actionoccurs.- VVith-a layer of felt disposed on the shelf 4, as shown in Fig. 1. the bevel which is to be given the edge will obviously depend on the relative angular .positions ofthe shelf andthe cutting knife. The plane of the knife, and therefore the plane of the cut, is adjustable to various positions through an arc of approximately 90 and the angle of the bevel is relatively varied.

Vhile the device is shown in position in Fig. 1 to bevel a comparatively thin layer of felt, it may be employed for layers of greater thicknesses,` since the supporting 'member 16. which carries the bracket and cutting mechanism, may be moved relativel v to the face plate 1l. Such upward movements would permit the knife to act' on thicker layers of felt than shown and it is also possible to cut such layers Vwith a flat bevel or with a steep bei'el. depending` of course upon the position in which the knife is placed. At the same time the throat member b v reason of its mounting, will al- Vways lie in the desired position.

It has been found that in attemptingto produce 'a lieveling cut of felt of the loosely matted variety. for Whiclrt-his machine is designed it is necessary to provide some means of support for the edge of the felt. Tere the rot-ating knife here employed to be used Without. the. provision of a throat member, even though the felt is supported on either side of the knife by the edge of the felt.

guides 8 and 9 the rapid rotation of the knife would cause a tearing and pulling of the fibres, thus distorting and disintegrating the felt mass. By the provision of the throat piece, within which the edge of the knife always runs, there is provided not only a support for the edge of the felt at the point of cutting. but the action of the knife, one side of which lies closely adjacent to one face of the slot in the throat piece, is similar to a shearingr action and thisinSures that the fibres will be cut rather than torn. It is necessary of course that the throat piece be .given a. construction and mounting so that some part of it will always he 1n a posltionto support the edge of the felt at the point of cutting and it is necessary that the arrangement be such that the desired shearing action may take place regardless of the angular position of the knife and at the edge The construction here shown attains ythe'various desired objects and I have found that for the purposes which I have set forth the most satisfactory method of beveling the felt smoothly'and cleanly at the edges is by providing a shearing action coupled with supporting the edge of the felt at the point of cutting.

As will be seen in Fig. 5, the finished pad of felt is ordinarily of an irregular form, de-

pending of course on the 'conto-ur of seat or cushion for which such pad is intended. As long, however, as the bevel of the cut is to remain the same, the cutting device-illus-v trated may be usedwithout adjustment regardless of the irregularities of the outline of the finished felt, since the pad will be fed to the knife with the edge to be cut in contact with the guides 8 andi) andvwitvh the face of the throat piece. It is then only necessary to move the pad about so that all the edges will in turn be subjected to the cutting action whereupon there will be produced an even bevel along the entire' edge of the pad, regardless of the irregular shape which the pad may have. Should it be desirab'le to give one edge. of the blank a fiat bevel and another edge a steep bevel, such a cutting operation only requires that the knife be set in the desired angular positions,

fno vertical adjustment being necessary so erated upon remains the same.

long as the thickness of material being op- If varying thicknesses are to beebeveled, the verticalladjustmentmav be performed Without changing the angularity of the cut.

In the various angular ositions -of the knife relative to the plane o the-support, the throat piece will always assume a position in which its face lies in co-ntact with and serves as a support for the edge of the felt along the line of the cut. This action is secured by making the throat piece of such size that the lower edge of the knife slot lies approximately at the center of the arc on which the quadrant bracket is formed the external co-ntour of the throat piece being designed so as to permit the face to lie against the edge of the felt blank at all times. The throat piece so constructed performs the double function of supporting the felt at the point of cutting as well as giving the ro has been illustrated an 4electric driving' means for rotating the knife if found desirable the knife may be driven from any convenient source of power. Though the quadrant bracket and the arcuate arm provide a satisfactory arrangement by which the various vertical and angular adjustments may be made. other forms of mountings, however, providing the same freedom of adjustment would be equally satisfactory. Y

Other changes in construction within the scope of the following claims will be obvious to one skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. The method of beveling the edge of a piece of felt which comprises supporting the piece of felt on a plane surface, and progressively cutting the edge of the piece of feltwitha shearing action while supporting the edge of the piece of felt on either side of the cutting mechanism and also at a point on the edge surface adjacent the point at which the edge is cut through for preventing distortion of the felt ina direction away from themain body of felt.

2. The method of beveling the edge of a piece of felt which comprises supporting the piece of felt on a plane surface, moving the piece of felt over the plane surface against-an angularly disposed rotar-y cutting knife. and subjecting the. edge of the piece of felt to a shearing action while supporting the edge of the piece of felt on either side of the cutting knife, and maintaining the edgev surface ofthe felt in contact with a lsup-port adjacent the point at which the edge is cut through, to 'prevent distortion of the felt in a direction away from the main body thereof.

3. 'The method of befveling the edge of sheets of felt by meansof a rotary knife, which includes moving the felt and the knife relatively and against one another with the planes through the knife and the felt intersecting at an angle corresponding to thc bevel to be produced,l and maintaining the edge surface of the felt in contact with a support at the point at which the edge is cut through to cause the edge to move be- 5 tween the center and periphery of the knife and thereby preventing distortion of the` edge in a direction awajv from the main body of felt.

4. The method of lieveling a mass offelted material which includes subjecting the edge of the material'to a shearing action, and maintaining the edge surface in contact with a support in advance of and at the point at which the edge is cut through to prevent 'distortion of the edge in a direction away from .the main mass of felt.

5. A method of beveiing afelt sheet by means of a rotary cutting kn-ife, which comprises moving the felt and the knife relatively7 with the planes through the knife and the felt intersecting at an angle corresponding to the angle of the bevel to be produced, and duringvsuch movement supporting the felt on a plane surface extending to one side of the line of cut, and progressiveljv supporting the felt along the line of cut immediately in advance of the point at which the knife edge passes through the felt. 'J

6. A device of the class described comprising in combination a support, cutting means mounted on sai-d support and capable ofl angular adjustment relative thereto, and means cooperating with the cutting means and adjustable therewith to give the latter a shearing action, said means further providing an abutmentffor the edge of the felt at the point Where this edge is cut through to prevent its distortion.`

7. A device of the class described, comprising in combination a support. cutting means mounted on said support and capable of angular and rectilinear adjustment thereon, and means movable with the cutting means and operable to give the latter a shearing action.

8. A device of the class described, comprising in combinationa support, cuttingv means 'adjustablv mounted thereon and means .movable with the cutting means to adjusted position. and performing thedouble function of giving the cutting means a lshearing effect and affording a support for the material being cut at the point of cutting.

9. A device of the class described, comprising in combination .a support, avdriven cutting member, a slotted member cooperating therewith to produce a shearing effect, and means to adjust the positionofboth members relative to the support. l 10. A device of the class described,A comprising in combination a support, a cutting member and a slotted memberV cooperating therewith to produce a shearingeifect, means to holdthetwo members in varjfing angular positions on the support and means to hold the tivo members in varying vertical 'positions on the support.

11. A device of the class, described, comprising in combination a support, cutting means mounted adjustably thereon, means to support a sheet of felt beneath the cutting means and a throat member cooperating with; the cutting means to give the latter a shearing effect and` also provi-ding an abutment for the edge of the felt to prevent its distortion in a direction away from the main sheet of felt at the 'point `Where the edge is cut through.

12. A device of the class described coniprising in combination 'a support, an arcuate supporting member mounted on the support, a bracket adjustably mounted on the member, a driven cutter and a cooperat-` ing throat member having a slot into which the edge of the cutter projects, both the cutter and the throat member being mounted on said bracket.

13. A device of the classv described comprisingin combination a supporti, an arcuate arm'mounted thereon, a bracket mounted on said arm, driven cutting means mounted on said bracket, and a throat member mounted on said bracket and cooperating with said cutting means to give the latter a shearing effect.

14. A device of the-classdescribed comprising in combination a support, an arcuate arm mounted adjusta'bly` on the support, a bracket mounted on the arm, driven cutting means mounted on the bracket., a throat member mounted on the .bracket and cooperating with the cutting means to give the latter a shearing effect and means to vary the angular position of the cutting means and throat member in lthe support. l

15. A ldevice of the class described comprising in combination a'support, a bracket mounted on the support and movable y through an arc, means to hold the bracket in varying angular positions, a driven cutting member on the bracket and a throat piece` on the bracket having a`slot in which the edge of the cutting member runs, the throat pieceliaving` a face portion lying substan-` tially at the center of the arc through Which the bracket is adjustable.

161A device of the class described and comprising in combination a support, f a bracket mounted for angular adjustment thereon, a rotary cutting knife and driving 120,

means thereformounted on the bracketand a throat piece having a slot in vWhich the knife edge runs. and having axface,portion lying substantially at the -cenfer of adjustment ofthe bracket', this :tace portion pro- 12D viding a. support-for the edge of the materialbeing cut. 17.' A device of the class describedfand comprising in combination a" support, an arcuate arm mounted therepn, a bracket 15" having an arcuate portion mounted on the arm, a rotar knife and driving means'theren latter and means cooperating with the cutting device and adjustable therewith to give the lattera shearing effect and performing the further function of supporting the edge of' the felt at the point being cut.

19. A device of the class described, comprising in combination, a support, an arcu' ate arm adjustably mounted thereon, a bracket mounted on the arm and capable of an lar adjustment thereon, a rotary knife anudriving' means therefor mounted on the bracket, a throat member on the bracket and having a slot in which the knife edge runs,l and a face portion lying substantlally at the center of adjustment of the bracket and means to vary the position of the arm n the su port.

ting means mounted thereon and capable of vertical and angular adjustment, of a throat piece, having a slot in which the edge of the ncutting means runs and being adjustable with the cuttin means.

21. In a felt a device of the class described, thel combination with a support and drivenv cutveling machine, including an angularly adjustable rotary` knife, a throat plece cooperating with t e knife to give the latter a shearing effect and movable .with the knife as the latter is adjusted, said throat piece havin a face portion lying at the centerabout w ich the angular adjustment of the knife takes place.

22. In a felt beveling machine, including` arotary knife angularly adjustable about a center, a throat plece having a slot in which the knife edge "runs, and a face portion extending across the slot and lying a proximately at the center of adjustment, t is face portion providing a support for the material being cut at the point of cutting.

23. In a felt bevelinomachine including a bracket angularly adjustable about a center, and a rotary knife mounted on' the bracket, a throat piece mounted on the bracket and having a slot into which the knife edge projects and a face portion extending across the slotand lying approximately at the center of adjustment yof the bracket. v

24. A device of the class described comprising in combination a support, a shelf `thereon to support a layerof felt, an arcuate arm mounted on the support, a bracket having an arcuate portion cooperating with the arcuate arm and adjustable therealong, a rotary knife and driving means therefor mounted on the bracket, a throatpiece mounted on the arcuate portion in the plane of the knife .and having a face portion l ing substantially at the center ofthe arc o the arcuate portion and means to vary the plane I of the cut relative to the shelf. f

In testimony whereof I aixmy signature.

ALFRED HUGH GALLAGHER; 

